CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Awards

This award is sponsored jointly by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

The University of Cincinnati selects one student per category to nominate for the CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award. Two awards are given annually in two of four different broad categories: Biological Sciences/Life Sciences; Humanities & Fine Arts; Social Sciences; and Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Engineering.

The Graduate College is accepting nominations for the CGS (Council of Graduate Schools)/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award from programs, faculty, and students. The students chosen by the Graduate College selection committee to represent UC in the 2025 CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award competition will each receive a $350 prize. Should either of the UC nominees win the national competition, the student will receive an award of $2,000, plus reasonable travel expenses to attend the CGS Annual Meeting Awards Luncheon in December 2025, in Washington, D.C.

The Graduate College may nominate one dissertation from each category (Biological Sciences/Life Sciences and the Humanities & Fine Arts category) to represent UC in the 2025 CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award competition. We request that you submit to us the outstanding dissertations for students who have graduated between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2025 (a two-year period). It is important to note that the nominated dissertations must be available in the ProQuest database.

• Biological Sciences/Life Sciences: biology; botany; zoology; ecology; embryology; entomology; genetics; nutrition; plant pathology; plant physiology; anatomy; biochemistry; biophysics; microbiology; pathology; pharmacology; physiology; and related fields (health sciences).  Also included are agriculture, forestry, zoology; and related fields.
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• Humanities & Fine Arts: history; philosophy; language; linguistics; literature; archaeology; jurisprudence; the history, theory and criticism of the arts; ethics; comparative religion; and those aspects of the social sciences that employ historical or philosophical approaches.

Please contact Megan Carroll (carrolm2@ucmail.uc.edu) with questions. 

The nomination application must include:

• An abstract of the nominee’s dissertation (not to exceed 5 double-spaced pages). Appendices containing other materials, such as charts, tables, and/or references, may be included as additional pages (not to exceed 5 pages). All pages should be numbered, and each should bear the name of the nominee.
• Three letters of recommendation evaluating the significance and quality of the nominee’s dissertation work, are to be included in the nomination materials. One of these letters is to be from the nominee’s dissertation supervisor, another from a member of the nominee’s dissertation committee, and the third from a person of the nominee’s choice.
• The nominee’s curriculum vitae (not to exceed 5 pages).

Nomination applications for the Biological Sciences/Life Sciences category and Humanities & Fine Arts category are due no later than Sunday, June 15, 2025, 11:59 PM. Please see the submission guidelines below for details. The two dissertations selected to represent UC in the national competition will be announced by July 1, 2025.

Based on feedback from previous selection committees, here are some tips for students and faculty preparing an application packet:

1. Both students and letter writers should keep in mind that they are writing for a general audience. These categories cover a broad range of programs and disciplines, so there is no guarantee that your material will be reviewed by someone from your specific field.
2. Both students and letter writers should make it abundantly clear what the impact of the student's dissertation work is within the field. Once again, keep in mind that your materials may be reviewed by someone outside your field. What may be obvious to you in terms of the work's impact may not be clear to the outside reviewer unless it is explicitly stated.
3. Consider the abstract to be a professional text and include the appropriate citations.
4. Provide a structure for this extended abstract, such as an introduction with an objective, the aims or goals of the work, results and future work. You do not need to use this exact structure, but composing the abstract with sections and headings is highly recommended.

All nomination materials for Biological Sciences/Life Sciences category and Humanities & Fine Arts category must be submitted electronically, via this form (https://form.jotform.com/251356703463153) by Sunday, June 15, 2025, 11:59 PM. Incomplete and late submissions will be rejected.

If you have a student you wish to nominate now for next year's categories (Mathematics/Physical Sciences/Engineering and Social Sciences), please contact Megan Carroll at carrolm2@ucmail.uc.edu.

Please direct any questions to Megan Carroll at carrolm2@ucmail.uc.edu.